I’m currently in Portland, Oregon.

Today will be day three of a 3-day training in Rhythmic Movements.

I also have a very painful, injured knee.

As I awoke this morning, I began to reflect on my experiences of the class so far. Those reflections took me to the “qualities of exact movements” that our instructor (Moira Dempsey from Rhythmic Movement Training International*) taught us.

“Exact” movements are:

• Rhythmical

• Smooth

• Effortless

• Easy

• Coordinated

• Symmetrical

• Have flow and connection throughout the body as we move

So, how does all of what I’ve said so far fit together?

You see, being able to move our bodies with “exact” movements translates to being more ORGANIZED and CONNECTED.

More ORGANIZED in our movements, ORGANIZED in our thoughts, and ORGANIZED in our emotions.

More CONNECTED to our own body, CONNECTED to our emotions and thoughts, and CONNECTED to the world around us.

At this point, you may be thinking…. “Ok Amy, I think I’m starting to understand what you’re saying, but why did you mention your injured knee? Are you just trying to gain sympathy?”

Although some sympathy would be nice (LOL) that is not the reason I mentioned my knee.

I mentioned my knee because having an injured knee has thrown my whole system OFF. At the moment, my movements are far from rhythmical, smooth, or effortless. They are also not easy (at least on the injured side) nor are they coordinated or symmetrical. And, I definitely do not have a flow and connection throughout my body as I move. In fact, I feel very DISCONNECTED to my injured knee right now- like it’s some THING that’s just hanging onto me and demanding attention by causing pain.

All of this led me to thinking about many of the kids we work with at Brain FUNdamentals. Their movements often lack the “exactness” that we were supposed to develop as babies- those rhythmic, innate, movement patterns that are the foundations of the central nervous system. These kiddos are often “disconnected” from their own body.

That disconnection can show up in a myriad of ways including emotional dysregulation, disorganization in their body, thoughts, and movements, and feeling unsafe to engage in activities or the world around them- just like I do when I pull back from participating in some of the class activities for fear of pain in my knee.

And, when you think about this - this “disconnection”, this lack of “exactness” and how it can affect the way someone moves (literally and figuratively) about the world, it makes a whole lot of sense- to me at least- about why those kiddos struggle so much.

For those struggling kids, this is where programs like Rhythmic Movement Training, Brain Gym®, Primitive Reflex Integration, and other movement-based programs come in. They help to bring back that “exactness” to movements so that people can move about the world with more joy, ease, and connection. If your child is struggling, it’s worth looking into, and if you’re local to Metrowest Massachusetts, you can certainly start with Brain FUNdamentals!

Enough said for today.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to focus on taking care of my knee so I can regain some of MY “exactness” of movements in order to move about the world with more joy, ease, and connection- LOL.

*Rhythmic Movement Training International: https://rhythmicmovement.org/